1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of apparatus for retaining a health care or medical treatment appliance to the lower body of a man. More particularly, the present invention relates to the field of condom retaining apparatus.
2. Description of the prior Art
Many people use condoms during sexual intercourse. One problem of using condoms encountered by some people is that sometimes a condom does not remain in its fully unrolled condition on the penis of a man while it is in use, and subsequently becomes loose. This situation often jeopardizes the purpose of using the condom. Therefore, it is desirable to have a retaining apparatus to keep the condom in its fully unrolled condition while in use.
The following prior art patents have been found to be relevant to the field of the present invention:
1. U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,550 issued to Martin on Dec. 28, 1976 for "External Male Catheter" (hereafter the "Martin Patent").
2. U.S. Pat. No. 2,379,346 issued to Farrell on Jun. 26, 1945 for "Urinary Appliance" (hereafter the "Farrell Patent").
3. U.S. Pat. No. 2,222,825 issued to Starck on Nov. 26, 1940 for "Urinal Pouch" (hereafter the "Starck Patent").
4. U.S. Pat. No. 1,982,520 issued to Jakala on Nov. 27, 1934 for "Sanitary Device" (hereafter the "Jakala Patent").
5. U.S. Pat. No. 731,201 issued to Miller et al. on Jun. 16, 1903 for "Supporting Bandage" (hereafter the "Miller Patent").
6. French Patent No. 1,508,356 issued to Rasumny on Nov. 27, 1967 for "Apparatus For Unitary Incontinence In Men" (hereafter the "Rasumny Patent").
7. French Patent No. 992,462 issued to Gamard et al. on Oct. 18, 1951 for "Apparatus For The Treatment of Unitary Incontinence" (hereafter the "Gamard Patent").
8. German Patent No. 454,773 issued to Kohler on Jan. 17, 1928 for "Apparatus For Treatment of Male Infectious Diseases" (hereafter the "Kohler Patent").
The Miller Patent (1903) discloses a supporting bandage for retaining a medicated or absorbent compress 1 on the head of the penis of a man. The supporting bandage comprises a waist belt 6 to be wrapped around the man's waist, and a pair of flexible elastic strings 5 linking the compress 1 to the waist belt 6. The Miller Patent supporting bandage is not suitable for the purpose of retaining a condom in its fully unrolled condition, because it merely holds the compress 1 on the head of the penis in a relatively motionless situation. If the same supporting bandage is used for a condom, then the flexibility and elasticity of the pair of strings 5 will allow the condom to get loose as a result of the body movements during sexual intercourse.
The Kohler Patent (1928) discloses an apparatus for treatment of male infectious diseases. The apparatus comprises a generally oval-shaped rigid container 1 attached to belt support 11 by an attachment assembly. The attachment assembly includes a cap member 10, a disc member 4 and a ring member 6 which is threaded on the neck 2 of the container 1. The Kohler Patent attachment assembly is designed for mounting a rigid container, which makes it unfit for retaining a flexible condom.
The Jakala Patent (1934) discloses a sanitary device which again comprises an oval-shaped rigid container 11 made of metal material. The rigid container 11 is attached to the penis of a man by a wiring member 13. The spring tension of the wiring member holds it inside the cavity of the rigid container 11. It is clear that this arrangement is also not suitable for a condom.
The Starck patent (1940) discloses a large sized urinal pouch 5 for covering the entire lower body area of a patient with bladder disability. The urinal pouch 5 is retained under the lower body portion between the two legs of the patient by a number of strap and buckle assemblies.
The Farrell Patent (1945) discloses a urinary appliance for people having urinary problems. It comprises a rubber tube 15 attached to the penis of a man by an attachment assembly. The attachment assembly includes a rigid or semirigid tubular member 10 having a circular flange 11. There are two pairs of studs 12 and 13 on the circular flange 11 for connection with a pair of short straps 7 and a pair of long straps 8, which straps 7 and 8 are all further attached to a waist belt 6.
The Gamard Patent (1951) discloses an apparatus for treatment of urinary incontinence. The apparatus comprises a container 1 having an enlarged flange 2 attached to a waist belt 4 through straps 3. The apparatus also includes an electronic treatment device 16 which has two terminals connected into the container 1.
The Rasumny Patent (1967) discloses an apparatus for urinary incontinence in men, where a tubular container 1 is retained to the penis by a band 6 which is wrapped around the end of the tubular container and fastened by VELCRO-R members. A pair of short straps 9 and 9' then connect the fastened band 6 to a waist belt 7.
The Martin Patent (1976) discloses an external male catheter 22 which is retained on the user's penis by a belt assembly 28. A belt receptacle 24 and a belt retaining ring 26 are used for connecting the catheter 22 and the belt assembly 28.
It can be seen that none of the prior art apparatus is suitable for the purpose of retaining a condom on a man's penis while it is in use. Some of the prior art patents are designed with a rigid container, such as the Kohler Patent and the Jakala Patent, which is certainly not suitable for the highly elastic and flexible condom. Some of the prior art patents are designed with rigid or protruding attachment members, such as the buckles of the Starck Patent, the flange and studs of the Farrell patent, and the belt receptacle and belt retaining ring of the Martin Patent, which are also not suitable for retaining a condom because the rigid or extended members will make the user of the condom uncomfortable. Other prior art patents, such as the Miller Patent, the Gamard Patent and the Rasumny Patent, use short flexible straps to connect the containers to the waist belts. As discussed before, the disadvantage of this type of arrangement is that even though the waist belt is tightly fastened to a user's waist, the short connecting straps themselves are dangling but not fastened to the user's body. They will not withstand the movements during sexual intercourse, since their flexibility and elasticity will make them act just like a swing to permit a condom to get loose.
Therefore there is an existing need to have a condom retaining apparatus which securely keeps the condom in its unrolled position while being used, yet is not uncomfortable for the user. This need is particularly urgent in today's society, where a rapidly growing number of people are using the condoms for various purposes, including preventing the transmittal of sexually communicable diseases, such as AIDS.